“Blue Field” by Trident Music Video and a review of Arpeggio of Blue Steel

This music video is recently from one of the anime I’ve been watching in my local Animax cable channel, Arpeggio of Blue Steel (蒼き鋼のアルペジオ) which is a 12 part anime series adapted from a manga series of the same name.

It’s pretty short but it has lots of potential to be a lot more interesting. I think that It being short means that the most of the story line was rushed to a point that some people may find it difficult to find one character they like the most. Also, why on earth did Chihaya Gunzo, the young protagonist, accepted the request of Iona (the mental model of his submarine) to join him at life at sea doing battles and working as a gun fro hire basically? Oh by the way, mental models are, in my terms, the personification of the alien ship’s computer or the ship itself which is pretty cool if you ask me. But that being said it’s still an anime series worth watching. I followed it since day one and I’m hooked on the series. Watch it if you can.

Here is the plot according to its Wikipedia page.

Due to global warming and rising sea levels in the early 21st century, much of Earth’s landmass has been lost. In 2039, fleets of powerful sentient warships, armed with advanced technology and weaponry, mysteriously appear and decimate the world’s naval forces. These ships, collectively called ‘The Fleet of Fog’, impose a worldwide naval and aerial blockade, preventing humanity from both traveling the oceans and to other nations. During the blockade, the Fleet of Fog created Mental Models, humanoid avatars containing a ship’s Union core, as a means to develop self cultivation and overcome their lack of creative thinking of tactics like humans, which at the same time made the Mental Models have their own unique personality.

In 2056, 17 years after the blockade began, Gunzō Chihaya, a former student of the Japanese National Marine Academy, is the captain of small group of privateers called the ‘Blue Steel’. The Blue Steel are infamous for possessing a Fog submarine, the I-401, along with its Mental Model Iona, who defected to the human side. Due to I-401’s technology and Gunzō’s tactical skills, the Blue Steel have not only survived several encounters with the Fleet of Fog but managed to sink one of their most powerful warships.

Gunzō and his crew are hired by a faction of the Japanese government to deliver the prototype for a powerful weapon, a weapon that may finally allow mankind to fight back against the Fog, to the United States. The United States is the only country with the resources and capability to mass-produce the weapon system. However, the Blue Steel will face obstacles on their journey not only from the Fleet of Fog and their human allies, but from other governments and factions with their own agendas. Along the way they will also gain allies of their own from both sides, increasing their chances against seemingly overwhelming odds.

The video above is a music video of one of the ending themes of the series. It’s sung by Trident a three girl group made up of Hibiku Yamamura (Mental Model Haruna), Mai Fuchigami (Mental Model Iona), and Manami Numakura (Mental Model Takao). It’s very good and upbeat.

Pros:

1. HAREM! 🙂

2. Iona is so cute and adorable

3. Cool naval battles and fight scenes

Cons:

1. Too short

2. Almost no character development (rushed story)

So there you have it. I won’t spoil much of the action for you so you have to watch it for yourselves. This is Jimbo, Ikimasu!